Apple CEO Tim Cook, who has never come out as gay publicly but has been named in Out magazine’s “Power 50″ list of most influential gays and lesbians for the past three years, endorsed the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act during a speech at Auburn University.

Cook, who has become increasingly vocal about promoting equal rights in the workplace, encouraged audience members at his alma mater to pressure members of Congress to support passage of ENDA, a measure he had earlier supported in a Wall Street Journal editorial.

“These values have also recently guided us to support legislation that demands equality and non-discrimination for all employees, no matter who you love,” Cook said during an acceptance speech last week for a lifetime achievement award from Auburn.

“I have long believed in this, and Apple has implemented protections for employees even when the laws did not. Now is the time to write these basic principles of human dignity into the book of law,” he said.